


милашка

by nickxy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Basically written as if the Avengers had just stayed the same since 2012, Bucky Barnes speaking Russian, Canon Divergence - Avengers (2012), Drugged Peter Parker, English, Fluff, Grad Student Peter Parker, M/M, Oneshot, Peter is 22, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Protective Bucky Barnes, This is in English despite the the title lmao, winterspider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26524705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickxy/pseuds/nickxy
Summary: Peter finds himself paralyzed and trapped in the sewer after a run in with the Lizard. He's also got a lab report due at midnight. How the hell is he supposed to get out of this one?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Peter Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 142





	милашка

**Author's Note:**

> Got the idea for this while playin' that new Avengers game. 
> 
> First off, sorry if my Russian is SO OFF here. Feel free to help me out in the comments if it is <3 
> 
> Second, this totally takes place in some alternate reality after 2012, the tower still exists and everyone is still pals lmao. Also, Bucky's Winter Soldier outfit is def a little more like the comic in this one haha.

Peter should have done the smart thing.

The smart thing would have been to ignore the ridiculous amount of lizards crawling into the sewer system in the Lower East Side, go back to his apartment, and finish the lab report he had to submit at midnight. 

Peter’s plan had seemed so simple at the time. Really, it did. If it was nine PM, he could follow the lizards, do a little recon, perhaps gather a couple samples and figure out what hell Connors was planning these days. 

It would have been really nice if everything had gone according to plan.

Instead, after a particularly fast and confusing run-in with Connors in his beloved Lizard form, Peter has now fallen victim to some sort of paralytic agent the reptile had on (or was it in?) his claws. 

Peter can’t figure out what exact compound or chemical could have done this to him, but even if he could, there wouldn’t be anything he could do about it. His eyes dart around the concrete and sewage for some sort of solution, but at this point, it seemed he was going to have to wait out whatever substance Connors had drugged him with.

The scary thing about that was that Peter had no way of knowing how long that would take, and he also didn’t have the patience for that. He had a lab report due at midnight for godsakes!

After what feels like an eternity of zero ideas, Peter swears he can hear the faint sound of splashes echoing through the sewers. Peter’s spider-sense isn’t firing off, which is a good sign, but he still wishes he had some mobility in his neck so that he could figure out who is causing all the splashing. 

  
  
Moments later, in the corner of his eye, he catches the glint of a familiar metallic arm. It’s Bucky, the Winter Soldier himself. 

“Bucky?” Peter’s face crinkles beneath his mask in confusion. Apparently, his face is the only part of his body that isn’t paralyzed. “What are you doing here?” 

While relieved to be saved, Peter wishes it was any other Avenger that had come to save him. He would have even settled for the Hulk. Peter already didn’t have much control around Bucky because of his very difficult to maintain crush. 

This made things even worse.

Especially because he was only putting the fact that he’s a completely helpless superhero that can’t even get through a simple recon mission on complete display.

“What’s it look like? I’m savin’ your behind, милашка.” Bucky smirks, something about the smirk looks way more intimidating when he’s got his Winter Soldier costume on. And when he speaks Russian. 

“мил— What does that mean again?” Peter stammers, he tried to look up the word once but couldn’t figure out how to use the Russian letters properly. Language was never his strong suit.

As a result, he can’t ever tell if Bucky’s really flirting with him or just being an asshole. Bucky only chuckles and takes a knee beside Peter. He carefully takes Peter’s head into his hands and gently peels up the mask to reveal Peter’s big brown eyes. 

“You ok?” Bucky asks earnestly, taking a deep look into Peter’s eyes and examining his face. Peter blushes a bit, and Bucky does a great job of pretending not to notice. 

“Uh, Connors clawed me with something. I don’t know what it was, but you really didn’t have to come all the way down here. I’ve got it covered.” Peter attempts to give Bucky a thumbs up, but the paralysis makes that impossible. Instead, Bucky gets an unconvincing smile and eyes bulging gently. 

“Yeah, you look like you’ve got the situation handled.” Bucky begins to lean in closer to Peter. 

“Bucky, don’t you da—” Before Peter can finish his protest, Bucky’s got him scooped him up in his arms, bridal style. “Ugh, this is so embarrassing.” Peter mutters into Bucky’s chest, then leaning the back of his head on Bucky’s arm. Bucky’s whole body shakes slightly with a chuckle. 

  
  
“We’ve all been paralyzed one time or another. Don’t sweat it, part of the gig.” Bucky gives Peter’s thigh a tap with his hand as he begins to navigate his way out of the sewer. 

“How did you even find me?” Peter asks. Bucky’s gaze remains forward as he sloshes his way through the sewer. 

“JARVIS alerted us that you had been poisoned with some sort of compound. Can’t say I remember the word but it sounded bad, so we had him give us the coordinates.”

“Great, so everyone knows. Man, that sucks.” Peter mumbles, face flushed with embarrassment. Bucky gives him a small nudge with his metal arm, bringing him a little closer. 

“It’s fine, Pete.” Bucky reassures, his tone low and soothing. “It was just me, Steve and Nat, anyway.” 

“Why’d you come? Usually Tony likes to be the one to get me out of these situations.”

The two reach a ladder to the outside world, Peter can make out the sounds of the bustling New York street above them. 

“I wanted to see you.” Bucky answers plainly, placing Peter’s mask back onto his face. “Sorry about this.” He says before yanking Peter up and slinging him over his shoulder.

Bucky carefully makes his way out of the grate and then re-adjusts Peter, bringing him back to his arms. 

“We should get you back to the Tower so Bruce can run some tests on you.” Bucky says, looking down at Peter who absolutely wants to shake his head right now but forgot for a moment that he can’t. Bucky can clearly sense the disagreement. “What?” 

“What time is it?” Peter asks. Bucky looks down at his Stark tech watch (which he always complains is too complicated for something that could be simple) and taps the screen until get gets the time. 

“Around ten-thirty. Why?” 

“I… Uh… I have a report due at midnight.” Peter replies both sheepishly and quickly. 

“A what?” Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up above his mask in surprise, and he lets out a genuine laugh. “And you were in the sewer?” 

“Hey! I didn’t think I was going to get paralyzed tonight!” 

“Always gotta be ready for the unexpected, милашка.” Bucky approaches a black SHIELD SUV, opens the passenger door, and buckles up Peter in the seat. 

“Why do you call me—” Bucky shuts the door and rounds around the other side. 

Bucky asks as the car does a quick scan of Bucky’s face.  
  


 _“Welcome Sargeant Barnes.”_ The voice inside the car says.  


“Where is your apartment?” Bucky asks. Peter always forgets that the other Avengers have no idea where he actually lives. It’s on purpose.   
  


Tony forbade Peter from getting his own room in Avengers tower. Something about it being too dangerous and wanting Peter to have no inter-dimensional distractions from his master’s degree. It made enough sense in theory, but it sucked in practice.   
  


Tony sweetened the deal by offering him an apartment rent-free. A really nice one on the Upper West Side. Peter couldn’t say no and also found it very difficult to say yes. Tony, obviously, wouldn’t let him refuse.   
  


“88th and Columbus.” Peter thinks about how he really should have tidied up a little this morning. He had so much time but how was he supposed to know that _Bucky Barnes_ was going to be in his apartment?   
  


Bucky takes the car onto the road and clicks the radio on. After a couple of minutes listening to some random radio commercials, ’Juice’ by Lizzo plays softly on the speakers. Bucky hums along mindlessly. He totally knows the song.   
  


“Do you… like this song?” Peter’s kind of surprised. For some reason, even after all of this time, he assumed Bucky still listened to music that would be typically played through a phonograph.  


“It’s pretty good.” Bucky shrugs. “I think I prefer her other one. The one where she talks about being a bad bitch. Non-committal.”   
  


“Truth Hurts?” Peter chuckles. “I can’t believe you listen to Lizzo.”   
  


“She pretty good. Better than some of the other shit they play on this station.” Bucky says, gesturing to the middle console of the car. “Ariana Grande’s pretty good, though. Great voice.”   
  


Peter totally regrets not finding out what Bucky listened to earlier.   
  


“This is it here?” Bucky asks, pulling the SUV up to a big brownstone building. “Fancier than I thought it would be, have to admit.”   
  


“It’s Tony’s.” Peter says with a tinge of embarrassment. He really doesn’t like being babied by Tony, let alone having others know about it. “But yeah, I know.”   
  


“Figured as much. I’ll be right back. Where’s the laptop?” Bucky asks, gathering his things.  


“What?! You can’t just go in there like that!” Peter yelps, eyes showing surprised.   
  


“Why not? This is official Avengers business. No one will question me.” Bucky says confidently. “I’m guessing the laptop will be wherever your desk is.”  
  


“Yes it is, but you don’t even have my keys.”  
  


“I think you know me a bit better than that, Peter.” Bucky retorts, getting himself out of the car. “You stay put.” Another smirk on Bucky’s face.   
  


“Oh, Bucky, I’m sorry about the —” With the slam of the car door, Bucky is gone and Peter is alone. “Mess.” Peter groans to himself.  
  


Peter tries his best to relax a little and listen to the radio hosts chatter about Cardi B (or whatever it is) but can’t take his eyes off the time. It’s a little past eleven now, and he’s definitely cutting it close, but if he can get access to his laptop soon, Peter may just pull this off.   
  


The car door opens and Bucky has situated himself in the driver’s seat. He holds Peter’s laptop before him in his metal hand.   
  


“This it?” Bucky asks with a cocky smile on his face. Peter wishes he could reach out and snatch it out of his hand. But alas, all he can do it ogle it with his eyes. “I’ll take that look as a yes.” Bucky chuckles as the car scans him and promptly starts the engine.   
  


“Wait. Before we go can we… open the lab report. I really have to finish the conclusion before midnight.” Peter pleads, staring directly into Bucky’s eyes with his big brown ones. Bucky winces.  


“I dunno, Peter, we should really get you to the Tower. There’s no way to know what you were expo—”   
  


“Bucky. Please, this is important.” Peter says sternly. Bucky can immediately tell how important this is to him. Bucky cracks open the laptop. Peter thinks about how hilarious it is seeing Bucky navigate his small laptop with his metal hand.   
  


“Tell me what I’m supposed to do.” Bucky says situating the computer on his lap and booting it up.  
  


“Ok, I think I left the file in my report folder on my desktop.” The screen turns on to display Peter’s desktop. It’s a mess. Full of files and photos.   
  


“Would it kill you to clean your desktop?” Bucky laughs to himself. Peter rolls his eyes.   


“Shut up. Click that folder on the far left labeled ‘reports.’”   
  


“How can you even see?” Bucky jokes, faking a squint at the screen, and clicking on the folder.   
  


“Is there one called jumpamine chloride and frogs?” Peter asks, attempting to peer onto the screen.   
  


“Found it.” Bucky confirms, double-clicking the trackpad. A document fills the screen. Bucky begins to scan it.  
  


“So I didn’t finish the conclusion so I’m going to need you to type out some things for me.” Peter states with a guilty look on his face.   
  


“Isn’t this due at midnight?” Bucky shakes his head in disapproval.   
  


“Yes! Which means we only have about forty minutes before I’m screwed!” Peter’s doing his squeaky voice thing again, something he apparently is never going to grow out of but his annoyance is clear to Bucky.   
  


“Okay, okay. No reason to get that spideysuit in a bunch.” Bucky clicks around on the computer and then readies his hands above the keyboard, awaiting instruction. “You’re the boss, Pete. Tell me what to do.”   
  


“Did I already talk about how the relationship between temperature increase and JCl effects on jumping distance was not consistent?” Peter asks. Bucky takes a moment to think about what Peter’s asked before turning back to the screen and reading the page intently.  
  
  
“Looks like you’ve said all those things together, yes.”  
  


“Okay, we should talk about how weight loss occurred when the frogs were exposed to higher temperatures.”   
  


“Should I feel bad for these frogs?” Bucky snorts, turning back to Peter.  
  


“Write that down!” Peter exclaims, gesturing to the computer with his eyes. Bucky rolls his eyes and gets to typing.   
  


“You can also say that has to mean there’s an effect of the JCI on the frogs.” Bucky clacks away on the keyboard as Peter continues to explain his discoveries of jumpamine chloride’s effect on frogs. Around ten minutes later, Bucky is holding the laptop in front of Peter’s face. Peter’s eyes dart through the text on the screen.   
  


“You maybe said interesting a little too many times. Can we change one of those to say ‘fascinating’ or ‘intriguing?’”   
  


“Gonna be the end of me, милашка.” Bucky pulls the computer back to his lap and begins to change the words.   
  


“Can you tell me what that word means now?” Peter’s really starting to get annoyed getting called this stupid Russian word. It’s no longer alluring or intimidating.   
  


“How does this look?” Bucky questions, shoving the computer screen back into Peter’s face and completely ignoring his question.   
  


“Actually, that looks pretty good.” Peter admits, after glancing over the report for a moment. Bucky makes a look that gives Peter the impression that he’s pleased with himself. Peter glances to the middle console to check the time. “And with fifteen minutes to spare!”   
  


Peter directs Bucky through Columbia’s student website and feels a massive rush of relief wash over him the moment Bucky hits submit. If only he could feel anything else.   
  


“Back to the tower?” Bucky says, definitely still concerned about the fact that Peter’s fucking paralyzed. Peter tries to nod again but realizes quickly he can’t.   
  


“Yes. Sure.” Peter agrees and the two are on the way to Midtown. Bucky turns up the music again and the sounds of a rap song Peter hasn’t heard before filling the car. Peter can see that Bucky looks like he’s trying to say something but has no idea what would have him so tongue-tied.   
  


“I should tell you.” Bucky starts, breaking the silence as he rounds the SUV around a corner. “It means cutie.”   
  


“What does?” Peter’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.  
  


“милашка. It means cutie, for lack of a better English word.” Peter’s not quite sure he’s hearing things properly.   
  


“That’s what you’ve been calling me this whole time?” Peter’s shocked. It’s not like he thought Bucky hated him or anything but he’s been walking around calling him cutie this whole time? Was anyone else aware?   
  


Natasha had to be. There’s no way she didn’t know.   
  


“It seemed apt.” Bucky shrugs. Peter can’t believe how casual he’s being about this. There might as well be fireworks going off in Peter’s brain right now.   
  


“You don’t have to say anything.” Bucky ensures, making quick eye contact with Peter before returning his attention back to the road.   
  


“I guess… I guess I never thought you thought about me that way.” Peter gulps but Bucky just lets out a lighthearted chuckle.   
  


“It’s been hard not to, Peter.” Bucky admits. “You’re, well, you’re a cutie.”  
  


A blush makes it’s way to Peter’s cheeks. He feels like he’s in some sort of dream world or something. Maybe he is. He really wishes he could pinch himself to find out.  
  


“Thanks!” Peter blurts out. “I think you’re… what’s the Russian word for handsome?”  
  


Bucky laughs, and if Peter didn’t know any better, he would think there’s a slight blush on his cheeks too. The outside surroundings become more familiar and Peter can tell they’re getting closer to the Avengers tower.   
  


“Seriously, Bucky. Thank you for helping me tonight.” Peter gulps before his next words. “And uh, I really like… being around you.”   
  


“I like being around you too.” Bucky states clearly, bringing the car into park before one of the large garage entrances of the tower. “And you’re welcome.”  


Bucky’s now looking Peter directly in his eyes. Peter feels a warmth in his stomach that he hasn’t ever felt before.  
  


“I’ll be there anytime you need, милашка.”


End file.
